Life remains undisrupted on stranded Xuelong

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Members of Xuelong expedition team play basketball in the icebreaker January 5. (Xinhua/Zhang Jiansong)

Trapped in the floating ice area of Antarctica after successfully rescuing 52 passengers from a stranded Russian ship, the Chinese icebreaker Xuelong is expected to try out different evacuation plans today. Life of the expedition team members remains largely undisrupted at the moment while some of the scientific research projects on board are still underway.

Xuelong is currently stuck in the floating ice area 66°39’S, 144°25’E, about 21 kilometers from the nearest open waters. The ice around the ship is 3 to 4 meters thick.